expansive

[ik-span-siv]

adjective

1. having a wide range or extent; comprehensive; extensive.

   expansive mountain scenery.

2. (of a person's character or speech) effusive, unrestrained, free, or open.

   Our expansive host welcomed us warmly.

   Synonyms: gushing, gushy, unreserved, genial, outgoing, extroverted, sociable

3. tending to expand or capable of expanding.

4. causing expansion.

   the expansive force of heat.

5. working by expansion, as an engine.

6. Psychiatry.,  marked by an abnormal euphoric state and by delusions of grandeur.

expansive

/ ɪkˈspænsɪv /

adjective

1. able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion

2. wide; extensive

3. friendly, open, or talkative

   an expansive person

4. grand or extravagant

   an expansive way of life

5. psychiatry lacking restraint in the expression of feelings, esp in having delusions of grandeur or being inclined to overvalue oneself or one's work

Other Word Forms

• expansively adverb
• expansiveness noun
• nonexpansive adjective
• nonexpansiveness noun
• overexpansive adjective
• overexpansiveness noun
• unexpansive adjective
• unexpansiveness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of expansive¹

First recorded in 1645–55; expans(ion) + -ive

Example Sentences

Reality TV is a safe space to be judgmental, and “Love Is Blind” offers us an expansive, cushioned one.

Read more on Salon

His expansive style - which helped Bath lift the Premiership title last season - has been quickly adopted, with Ford instrumental in implementing his ideas.

Read more on BBC

Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music pay royalties so they can offer Universal’s expansive music catalog to their users.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The pop-classical singer will bring his soaring baritone and his expansive repertoire to the Hollywood Bowl this weekend for two shows with the L.A.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“But it is not remotely plausible to think that Congress intended to adopt that expansive definition,” the state said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• extensive 
• far-reaching 
• inclusive 
• wide-ranging